The Asian markets closed mostly in green on Tuesday, despite the absence of overnight cues from the US markets that were shut for a holiday. Singapore’s economy in the first quarter grew faster than estimated as manufacturing and services sectors showed more resilience, boding well for the city-state’s economic growth outlook this year. The surprisingly strong data bolsters the case for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to hold off from additional monetary easing later this year. The trade-reliant economy expanded an annualized and seasonally adjusted 3.2% in the January-March quarter from the previous three months. That far exceeded the 1.1% expansion in the government’s advance estimate released in April. Singaporean Industrial Production fell to an annual rate of -8.7%, from -5.5% in the preceding month. Japan’s Corporate Services Price Index (CSPI) fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7%, from 3.1% in the preceding month whose figure was revised down from 3.2%. South Korean Consumer Confidence rose to 105, from 104 in the preceding month.
Asian Indices Last Trade Change in Points Change in % Shanghai Composite 4,910.90 97.10 2.02 Hang Seng 28,249.86 257.03 0.92 Jakarta Composite 5,320.90 32.54 0.62 KLSE Composite 1,764.07 -3.31 -0.19 Nikkei 225 20,437.48 23.71 0.12 Straits Times 3,459.98 -0.87 -0.03 KOSPI Composite 2,143.50 -2.60 -0.12 Taiwan Weighted 9,669.41 24.24 0.25